Starbucks is doubling down on so-called nitro cold brew coffee in the U.S. The impact of half a cup of this java with the edgy name is like consuming two espressos. The promotion is on a roll. The drink is cool, smooth, mellow (not harsh like other coffee) and loved by millenials.  Anyway, Starbucks  add nitro cold brew to its lineup in its stores in Los Angeles and six other cities this summer. It had previously served the brew exclusively at its higher-end Reserve Roastery and Tasting Rooms. It is dispensed through shiny pipes that look like draft beer taps. Somewhere in there, the nitrogen under pressure is infused into the brew. Baristas are said to vow it gets the caffeine into the blood quicker. Whoa. Starbucks has not said exactly when the nitro coffee will become available and there is no word about Canada.

Mayor Tory has marked the beginning of Toronto’s first-ever pride month by raising the rainbow flag City Hall. What was once a day of celebration became pride week and now extends over a month. Councillor Kristin Wong-Tam spoke about the historic struggles of Toronto’s LGBT community. “It hasn’t always been fine. There have been moments in time in the history of the LGBT movement where we’ve had to fight harder to … get the recognition we deserve,” Wong-Tam said. Separately, Prime Minister Trudeau raised the rainbow flag on Parliament Hill.

 

A new app permits anyone to program 911 and her cell ready self-dial if she loses control of the phone when attacked. It is one of a number of self-defense apps being shown.

https://twitter.com/tpscalls/status/737896470716776449

A big bang in or near the Bloor station of Line 2 Wednesday erupted into fire and caused a lot of damage, the TTC reports. The line is stopped between Pape Ave and George Street. A feeder cable has been damaged in what sounds like a bad connection with the third rail. The fire caused a smoky morning in the station and on the street outside.

TTC CEO says trains now running on line 2 after morning shutdown due to fire. Says he'll "get to the bottom of this" pic.twitter.com/qj5nch1N5u

— Linda Ward (@LindaWardCBC) June 1, 2016

https://twitter.com/bradTTC/status/737981656741601281

TTC crews at Bloor report loud bang at track level. Station filling with smoke. Problem 3rd rail and feeder cable. pic.twitter.com/wlCaHupkg8

— Tony Smyth (@LateNightCam) June 1, 2016

Update: Shuttle buses continue to operate on Line 2 btwn Pape and St George Stns. #TTC

— TTC Service Alerts (@TTCnotices) June 1, 2016

Kim O’Connor is the woman who shot the gripping video of Isiah Dickerson being thrown around the gorilla canal at the Cincinnati Zoo has given a thoughtful interview to CNN. In it, she say she feels sure that Harambe, the 17-year old gorilla, was a  danger to Isiah. “I don’t believe Harambe was going to give that little boy up,” said O’Connor. Since the zoo shot the gorilla to permit the escape of the child, there have been news stories attacking the parents and online petitions against the zoo. Ms. O’Connor, an eyewitness to the conditions — water and concrete — as well as the state of the gorilla, seems like a sensible observer.

The 519 area code will be further supplemented by the 548 code this weekend. Then there will three codes in the southwestern Ontario phone district — 519, 226 (added in 2006) and the new 548. It is all about how so many of us now own more than one phone and the growing population of Ontario. The region served by these codes stretches from Windsor, to Brantford to Tobermory.

PC Zoran Ivkovic is Toronto’s police officer of the year for his rescue of a badly burned boy during an Etobicoke apartment fire on March 31, 2015. As he arrived, Ivkovic was told there were children inside the unit. He faced heavy smoke as he crawled along a hallway banging on doors as he passed. The last unit was fully engulfed in flames and despite the effects of the smoke and heat Ivkovic forced open the door and crawled in. He used his flashlight to find what appeared to be a human figure. It was a severely burned boy. The PC held the boy as he ran out of the apartment. Today the 49th annual awarding of police officer of the year was made to Ivkovic with his wife and daughter present.

An Asian collector has paid the equivalent of nearly $400,000 Canadian for a matte white Diamond Himalaya Niloticus crocodile diamond Birkin 30 with 18K white gold and diamond hardware by Hermes at Christie’s Hong Kong Monday. It is the most expensive handbag ever sold according to news sources. The posh purse crafted from pale Himalayan crocodile leather and encrusted with 245 diamonds was originally produced in 2008 and sold in 2009, and remains one of the rarest and most desirable bags in the world.

At 68, guitarist Ronnie Wood has become dad to twin girls, Gracie Jane and Alice Rose. The Rolling Stone guitarist is married to Sally Humphreys, 37. She is a theatre producer. Ronnie Wood has four other youngsters and nine grandchildren. Wood has lived a long life and beyond his music is recalled for the 1977 “relationship” with the newly-separated Margaret Trudeau  A 2007 autobiography by Wood revealed details of his encounter with a “lovely, dark-haired woman” at a Toronto hotel who happened to be Margaret Trudeau.